January 2016: Inspired by seeing "Life is but a Dream", an exhibition at the Open Eye Gallery in Edinburgh by artist and illustrator Jonathan Gibbs, I started experimenting with different methods of woodblock making and printing.
I bought a full sheet (8 ft x 4 ft ) of birch plywood from a local joiner and from this I cut a few pieces measuring 14 ins x 10 ins. I started by making a drawing on paper of a landscape showing a stone wall with a hawthorn tree in the background, then transferred the drawing to one of the pieces of plywood using carbon paper. Using a set of Japanese woodcarving chisels loaned by the college, I carved the outline of the image into the first piece of plywood.
From the line block I made some one-color prints in black, grey, and various shades of blue:
Using carbon paper again I transferred the image onto three more pieces of plywood. I then carved the various parts of the image to make this set of four printing blocks:
Using these four blocks enabled me to do a print with four different colors as below:
All the prints shown above were made using water based inks which I found quite difficult to use.
Next I decided to experiment using the same set of four woodblocks but this time using oil paints mixed with a block printing medium. I used the first wood block to make a print as shown below. This block creates the background color for the stone wall in a mixture of burnt umber and white and the topmost area of the sky in naples yellow:
The second block creates the lower area of sky are and for this I used a mixture of naples yellow and white.
The third block creates the area behind the tree and for this I used a mixture of cobalt blue and crimson.
The last block creates the outline and the frame which I printed in burnt umber:
My next experiment was to make a woodcut using a piece of mdf board. For this I made a very simple line drawing of a hilly landscape with the faint outline of ruins of houses shown at the bottom of the image. I then transferred the drawing to the board using carbon paper and carved out the thin lines using a v-shaped chisel:
Following the instructions given in the book, Woodcut Printmaking, I made up a simple "jig "
which helps to keep the board in position when carving but also helps with registration when printing:
This is the first print using a mixture of naples yellow and white:
I then made a second print the same way but I lifted this one off the the block and added various colors to sections of the block using small brushes. I placed the print back on to the block to make this colored image:
I went on to make another four copies of the same image in color.
Then using the same woodcut block I made a print using a mixture of paynes grey and white:
Using the same method of applying different colors to the block using brushes I printed five copies of the image shown below:
Further experiments with woodblock: Using a piece of mdf board I carved this image:
Then printed it in a light shade of blue using oil paint mixed with a block printing medium:
I am intrigued by the texture that is highlighted in the plywood board when coated with black Indian ink:
In my
Woodcut Printmaking book written by Walter Chamberlain there are various ways suggested for accentuating this surface texture: (1) Brushing with a stiff wire brush or scrubbing with steel wool and hot water. (2) Lightly charring the wood with a flame. (3) Applying a solution of nitric acid.
I have tried methods one and two with some success but will have to improve on this:
In my next experiment I applied a solution of nitric acid, left this on the board for about half an hour, then scrubbed it with a wire brush and washed it off with hot water. I then left the board to dry and sanded it along the grain with a medium flexible sanding pad. I then inked the board in cobalt blue and printed two A4 sheets. The result as seen below is getting close to what I wanted to achieve:
This shows the texture in the wood quite clearly so I will now use this method to prepare three larger boards for printing.
Preparing the larger boards using the acid method was quite a laborious task. I coated each board with acid, left it to absorb for about an hour, then scrubbed the the surface with a wire brush, which had the effect of removing the softer areas of wood. I then thoroughly hosed down the boards to clean off the acid, left them to dry overnight and then did a final cleaning of the surface using wire wool.
I made a print on A1 paper from one of the boards using blue/grey oil based and the result was quite pleasing:
Although one of the implements that is recommended for burnishing when printing by hand is the the back of a wooden spoon, and this works well doing small prints, I found that when doing the larger prints I needed something with a larger surface area. And I think I found the perfect answer: a plastering float. This is a lightweight tool with a broad flat surface and I found it works perfectly as a burnishing tool:
Next I decided to experiment using two colors. Using one of my printing rollers I coated an A1 sheet of paper with a blue/pink color (a mixture of white,crimson and prussian blue) and left this to dry overnight. I then coated the textured side of the plywood with dark green, (a mixture of cadmium yellow and prussian blue) and printed this over the blue/pink paper as below:
On an A1 sheet of sketch paper I drew a very simple image of a landscape which I transferred using carbon paper on to one my three large pieces of plywood.
I then carved the plywood block to make the first Green Road image
I made the first print from this block using a light grey color (a mixture of paynes grey and white) which I rolled on to the block. I lifted off the print, applied the area of green paint by brush and placed the print back on the block.
Using the same method of drawing on paper, transferring to the wood using carbon paper and then carving out the images I made another two Green Road printing blocks. I then attached the three boards together using loose-pin hinges to make a triptych. The boards fold together to make them easy to transport and the loose-pin hinges make them easy to separate for printing:
I used A1 paper and the boards to print the images shown below:
On the other side of the triptych , all three boards have the have the highlighted textured finish:
I used the textured boards to print images in various combinations of colours as shown below:
TESSA BEAVER
Tessa Beaver is a well Leamington artist and printmaker who graduated from the Slade School of Art in the fifties and has worked actively as an artist for more than sixty years. She is highly skilled in drawing and painting but her great love is for the printmaking medium. Tessa recently held an exhibition of her work at Leamington Spa Art Gallery which I attended and I had also attended a talk about her work given by Simon Kirby who played a big part in organizing her exhibition. Soon after I started my printmaking experiments I contacted Tessa and she made me welcome to visit her home and studio to look at her work and discuss my own experiences. I felt very inspired by this visit as I was able to see some of her own work in progress and I felt it was a great privilege to have a one to one with this artist in her studio. She was very generous with her time and made me feel welcome to contact her anytime for further advice and guidance.
PAINTINGS
In my studio space at college I have started to make some more paintings. I stripped off a disused canvas from it's stretcher and with the expert guidance of Tania, the technician I cut and fixed a new canvas. This new canvas measures 5 ft x 4 ft. I primed the canvas using a mixture of 50/50 pva and water. I have painted this semi-abstract landscape using acrylic paints:
Having found that 5ft x 4ft was a nice size of canvas to work with, I made up three new stretchers, all 5 ft x 4 ft , which I fitted canvases to with the technicians assistance.
Using the new canvases I painted these images which were inspired by photos I took of the Green Road in the Burren, Co. Clare:
Initial pencil drawing on canvas for second Green Road painting:
Second Green Road painting:
Third Green Road painting:
A 150cm x 120cm painting I did in acrylic on canvas which was inspired by a photo I took of the Irish Sea:
RESEARCH
Gallery visits
2nd February 2016:
Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre Exhibition of work by Gerard Byrne, artist and film maker, titled
Gerard Byrne 1/125 of a second.
7th March 2016:
Tate Britain: Frank Auerbach. This major exhibition of Auerbach's work was arranged in decades from the 1950's to the present.
25th March 2016:
Althorpe Studios, Leamington Spa. Exhibition of work by artist Anum Jamal
22nd April 2016:
Deasil Gallery, Leamington Spa. Exhibition of work by five women artists: Janet Read, Kathy Webster, Janis Firminger, Mary Griffin, and Jean Draper.
24th April 2016:
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery: The Projectionists: This was a research project which showed the important but changing role played by film projectionists. The gallery is home to the works of many famous artists from the past centuries as well as more contemporary works.
28th April 2016:
Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum: Private view of Simon Lewty's work titled
The Significance of Writing.
Books
The Thames and Hudson Manual of Woodcut Printing, written by Walter Chamberlain.
Woodcut/Wood Engraving, written by Imre Reiner.
Wood Engraving and The Woodcut in Britain, written by James Hamilton.
A History of Wood Engraving, written by Albert Garrett.
The International Book of Wood, edited by Martyn Bramwell.
How Art Made the World written by Nigel Spivey.
Landscape Beyond, written by David Ward.
Frank Auerbach, edited by Catherine Lambert.
Rothko written by Jacob Baal-Teshuva.
Art since 1900 by Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, Yve-Alain Bois, Benjamin H.D. Buchloh.
In my Craft or Sullen Art, written by Tessa Beaver.
Art in Ireland since 1910, written by Fionna Barber.
Thinking Long, written by Liam Kelly.
GALLERY EXPERIENCE
Anum Jamal
Exhibition at Althorpe Studios, Leamington Spa. 25th March 2016
Anum Jamal is an artist who comes from comes Karachi, Pakistan. She has recently completed an MA in Fine Art at Coventry University and was holding an exhibition of her work at Althorpe Studios in Leamington. I was asked by the gallery owner Jonathan Treadwell if I would help to hang Anum's show and I was more than happy to do so. It was a great pleasure to meet this interesting and enthusiastic young artist who is very obviously dedicated to her work.
Anum specializes in the techniques of miniature painting and her work shows immense skill and attention to detail which I greatly admire. To me it also has a distinctly delicate and feminine touch. She describes her practice as the "amalgamation of concept and aesthetics........miniature painting has an influence on many of the aesthetic and cultural notions of Pakistan." Her work addresses "The current aspects of my city (Karachi) : the urban architecture, the chaos that engulfs it."
Below are some photographs I took of Anum and her work in the Althorpe Studios exhibition:
May 2016: Pre-Dissertation Workshops
Monday 16th May: Attended Dissertation Themes Seminar-Subject: Identity.
This workshop was led by Francoise Dupre and attended by a group of Level 5 students.
I found that the seminar was very helpful and informative as a preparation for the dissertation as each student was invited to propose what the initial ideas for the subject of their writing might be. This was discussed by the other students and the tutor and individual advice and guidance given where necessary.
Monday 23rd May: Attended second Seminar: A brief introduction to the Dissertation Proposal Form.
This workshop was led by Theo Reeves-Evison and attended by a group of Level 5 students.
I found this seminar very useful also as it discussed issues like the importance of choosing the right title for an essay, using the correct referencing system and making sure that the topic of the essay relates to the practical work.
